Weather Experts Say Illinois Summer Hotter Due to a ‘Heat Dome’

Just when you think you've heard it all, there's this. Weather "experts" are claiming that summer in Illinois is hotter because it's under a "heat dome". Let's explore what that means.

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I saw this interesting weather theory shared by Patch. It refers to a statement by Accuweather about why this summer is so hot especially in Illinois. They say the heat dome "has been in place for much of the month so far in the Ohio Valley and into the Southeast. Underneath a heat dome, sinking air causes temperatures to climb and precipitation and cloud cover to be limited."

The recent Accuweather Map shows what they're referring to.

In case you haven't noticed, that's us in Missouri and Illinois under the "unseasonably hot" zone. Tell us something we don't know.

Oh, and there's more good news. According to Accuweather, the "heat dome" is moving west now which puts Missouri right in the crosshairs.

If the predictions are correct, in the tri-state area we should start to see somewhat cooler temps over the next week or so. I will believe that when I see that.

I'm not questioning the heat dome theory. They're weather experts and I'm not. I've just never heard it put that way. To me, it's the weather version of the Mel Gibson Thunderdome movie...more or less.